Machinery or equipment incident on water vehicle · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Curtin Maritime, Corp., DB Ben Westin, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92109
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was securing a tugboat to a barge when his hand was caught in the rope and bitt, partially amputating the index, middle, and ring fingers.
An employee was descending a pigeon hole ladder to transfer from one vessel to another when the employee's right foot was crushed and fractured between the vessels. The employee was hospitalized.
Employees were unloading logs on a logging vessel. The injured employee was standing on the deck as a load came in. The sling popped off the load and the end of the choker struck the employee's lower left leg, resulting in a shin fracture.
An employee was exiting a confined space while carrying a pressure gun when the trigger activated. Water penetrated the employee's left arm, resulting in injury.
The employee was putting shackles on the grab of a vessel-operated crane. As the crane was lifting the grab, it started to swing toward the hopper. The employee reached to stop it when they were caught and lifted by the grab and pinned between it and the hopper. The employee sustained a pelvic fracture and lacerations to the arm and pelvis.
An employee was launching a boat during rough sea conditions. The employee lost balance, causing their left index and middle fingertips to be caught in the eye of the bow line, resulting in amputation.
Two employees were in a boat pulling a 45-pound anchor out of the water by the rope. The rope tightened and as the employees were attempting to create slack in the rope, the injured employee began to slip. His hand was caught between the rope and the inside of the platform boat, resulting in amputation of the right middle finger with bone loss.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 488330)
An employee was performing preventative maintenance on a conveyor belt when his left hand became caught in the belt. The employee sustained severe lacerations to his index finger and thumb, as well as a partial amputation to the middle finger.
An employee was standing in the receiving dock area when a forklift backed up over their foot. The employee sustained a fractured ankle, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was using a tugboat to winch the barge. While the employee was winching the barge, the winch handle spun backward and struck the employee's right wrist, resulting in a compound fracture of the wrist.
Two employees were inspecting separate sides of a void tank in a ship. When one of them stood up from a squat, his glasses slid down his face and his eye and right brow struck a protruding piece of a metal bracket. He suffered a cut to the brow and an eye injury from the bracket piece.
The injured employee was assisting a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement operation. During an apprehension, officers returned fire at a subject and struck the employee with a bullet. The employee sustained a gunshot wound to their right hand.
The injured employee was assisting in the disassembly phase after a radar array had been lowered and secured. The crew began removing load bearing pins from an overhead crane to free the radome. A load bearing pin was stuck. The injured employee went to remove the pin manually as a second team member applied pressure from the opposite side. The pin unexpectedly released and struck the injured employee s right thumb, resulting in partial amputation of the distal phalanx including an open distal phalanx fracture and nail bed laceration.
At about 3:10 p.m. on October 3, 2025, an employee was inspecting a car. Two dogs that had been in another car were leashed and tethered to a bollard. As the employee inspected the first car along with a narcotics detection dog, one of the other dogs came loose and attacked the narcotics dog. The employee was separating the dogs when the other dog bit his left ring finger. The last joint of the finger was injured and part of it was bitten off.
An employee was preparing a bundle of green onions for chopping. While holding the bundle in his left hand, he made his first cut using a 9-inch kitchen knife held in his right hand. The knife contacted the tip of his left thumb, resulting in an amputation of approximately 0.5 inches of the thumb that required hospitalization.